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Aloutte surprises

Aloutte is definently not your standard Michelin star restaurant. The experience starts as you arrive to the restaurant in what looks like a slightly shady Copenhagen backyard filled with all the regular stuff such as garbage, lots of bikes and a bit of graffiti. You are luckily greeted by a waiter as it would otherwise be difficult to find the actual entrance to the restaurant. Following this you take a graffiti filled freight elevator up where you arrive at another graffiti filled hallway.

Once you enter the restaurant everything is back to “normal”. A cozy open restaurant with a view to the forementioned courtyard lit not for beautiful pictures but for a cozy atmosphere. Soon after several snacks arrived at our table.  A tarte of langoustine and elderflower with just enough acidity from a pickled herb to be really delicious, a truffle blinis, licorice and a Peruvian squash tart while the highlight was a Thybo cheese with shishito.

Aloutte

The first real dish of the menu was also the highlight of the menu and a candidate for one of the best dishes of the year. A very soft and sweet Hokkaido squash crème covered in Rossini white sturgeon caviar and surrounded by a whey “juice” and sugar kelp. A dish that introduced a series of different flvours but all to enhance the flavor of the caviar. I loved how the dish felt familiar but it was however done with brand new elements and the sugar kelp and whey introduced great umami flavors to the caviar. Simply just outstanding.

Aloutte

Next up a Norweigan scallop with dried habanero chili where the heat had been removed served with a rich and creamy beurre blanc foam. Very delicious but I would have liked just a bit more habanero for balance.

Aloutte
Photo credit Aloutte and Philip Høpner

The next dish was definently not the most Instagram friendly, but it was however very delicious. A savory Japanese egg custard (Chawanmushi) which naturally needs some texture so puffed barley and a crumble of chicken skin was added, a bit of hay smoked gel of chicken stock and finished with hay cheese sauce. From the description alone its obvious that it is a dish with so many different flavor elements and textures but luckily it really went well together.

Aloutte

With to high a speed we were already at the main dish which was their version of a peking duck which was served with a glace of Japanese quience Again nice dept of flavor and perfectly cooked duck with crispy skin and rosa meat.

Aloutte

The dessert was nice but a bit too simple compared to the previous dishes. Pear with a pear pure and a sweet rye caramel. Caramel and pear is a classic combination and it was nice but unfortunately I just didn’t think it could live up to the high level presented in the earlier dishes.

Now despite living just 2km away this was actually my first visit to Aloutte. Truth be told I also didn’t really know what to expect. It is the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in Copenhagen and as the only one of those they serve “just” a 5 course menu plus one round of snacks. On the other hand they won their star in less than one year.

My own verdict is that they absolutely deserve their Michelin star. Their kitchen is hard to put in a box because there is inspiration from so many places. Obviously, Japan and hence also the never version of New Nordic with its focus on fermentation and local products and lastly obviously also France with its focus on sauces. To me that concept truly works and it is the mix of styles that gives the food its identity and soul.  Their flavors are truly spot on and the caviar dish was simply just outstanding. Its combination is somewhat new while still feeling familiar without being classic and boring. For that it is simply too delicious.  I do however wish that the menu had been just a bit longer as I left feeling just a bit hungry, but with its low pricetag I think that’s fair enough and it leaves plenty of space in the budget for a hotdog on its way home if required.

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